


A Slow, Sure Thing

by misura



Category: The Magnificent Seven (2016)
Genre: Character Death Fix, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 20:12:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14722835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/misura/pseuds/misura
Summary: "You get slapped in the face by a lot of women, Mr. Faraday?"Faraday grinned. "Usually not until after I've gotten a taste."





	A Slow, Sure Thing

Teddy was never quite clear, after, on how he came to be sharing his home and hearth with Joshua Faraday. He suspected there was a card trick of some kind involved, and possibly also a bad-tempered horse.

Faraday appeared to think so, at any rate.

"You can put up with my horse, you can put up with me."

As far as these things went. Teddy would have rather thought it to be the other way around. Provided one delivered food and water in a timely fashion and steered clear on all other occasions, Jack was a fine behaved animal, which was more than might be said for Faraday.

"Mr. Faraday," he said.

"Know what I like about you, Teddy?" Faraday asked. "Manners. 'Mr. Faraday'. I like that. Makes me sound all sorts of respectable."

"You want room and board, I'm sure the hotel will be happy to provide," Teddy said. "Free of charge, even. After what you've done for this town, for all of us - "

"I've gotten shot, blown up, stabbed, kicked and I'm fairly sure someone hit me over the head," Faraday said. "Charity, Teddy. It's considered a virtue."

_Why me?_ Teddy sighed. "You're welcome to stay here, of course, if that's your preference, Mr. Faraday. I'm just saying, it might not be all you're used to."

"Trust me, I've made do with worse," said Faraday. "Now, with that settled, do you have any decent whiskey around? I'm thirsty."

 

Most nights, if he dreamt, it was of the battle. Of watching better men than him get killed right in front of his eyes and him helpless to do anything about it.

"Bad dreams?" Viewed by what little light there was, Faraday looked none too well-rested himself.

Teddy wondered if he'd cried out in his sleep. It seemed better to believe than to think Faraday had been there all along, keeping watch while he slept.

"It's hard to forget," he said. "The price paid for all of us still being here, alive."

"Give it time," said Faraday. "It's been, what, a week? Trust me. One, two months from now and you'll be sleeping just fine. You kill anyone?"

"I don't know. Does it matter?" He'd aimed to kill, sure. According to the preacher, in some things, intending an act was as near like doing it as made no difference.

Faraday shrugged. "Might. Personally, I'd say they had it coming."

"You kill a lot of folks, Mr. Faraday?" Teddy asked, curiosity winning over common sense.

Faraday grinned. "Now that's a rather personal question, don't you think? We friends now, Teddy? You going to tell me your deep, dark secret next? I'm guessing you only have one, being a nice, normal fellow and all, but do tell me if I've underestimated you."

"It was just a question, Mr. Faraday. Didn't mean anything by it."

"Sure you didn't," Faraday said. "I'll find out, you know."

"If you say so, Mr. Faraday."

 

Teddy wasn't sure that he had a secret, exactly. Most town folks, they knew well enough what was what, and what Teddy was, to couch it in terms for polite company, was a young man it was best for a woman not to set her sights on as a prospective groom or son-in-law.

It was what had made him a proper enough escort for Miss Emma, when she'd gone off on her mad mission - although Teddy liked to think he'd have volunteered for the duty regardless. He liked women in general and Miss Emma in particular well enough; he simply didn't want them in his bed, or as a fixed part of his home, his life.

He wasn't wildly keen on having Joshua Faraday around either, truth be told, if for rather different reasons.

 

"You plan on making a move on the widow?"

Teddy enjoyed his dinners simple and quiet. Cooking for two had felt strange, like he was trying on a sort of life that wasn't his. "Beg pardon?"

Faraday smirked. "Touched a nerve there, Teddy? She owns some land, right? The two of you could have yourself a nice farm, I'm sure. With chickens and everything."

"I don't think so, Mr. Faraday."

"And we're back to being respectable. Good. I was worried there for a moment. So what's stopping you? Competition? You're a nice guy, Teddy, but sometimes, a man needs to be not a nice guy, know what I mean? Sometimes, a man needs to be a man."

"You think men can't be nice guys, Mr. Faraday?"

"I think you're gullible," said Faraday. "I think you're naive. I think you don't know how to shoot, or play cards, or drink, or - " Faraday gestured. 

Teddy grimaced. "I think I know how to shoot a gun, Mr. Faraday."

"See?" Faraday said. "That's your problem, right there. I list a number of things you're bad at, and the one thing you pick to focus on is shooting? Tell you what, you give me another plate of beans and I'll give you some tips."

"Due respect, I don't think I want another shooting lesson from you, Mr. Faraday. I may be gullible and I may be naive, but I ain't that gullible and naive." Teddy took Faraday's empty plate and filled it even so.

The man was a hero, and his guest, and for all his faults, far from poor company. Besides, Teddy had already eaten his fill, so it would only go to waste, else.

"Suspicious. Good. I like that." Faraday reached out and grabbed his wrist.

Teddy managed not to drop the plate he'd been holding, but it was a close thing. He'd been expecting Faraday to pull out a pack of cards again, or at least to finish eating before the 'lesson'.

"Lesson one," said Faraday. "Take them by surprise. Do the unexpected. Be bold."

"You get slapped in the face by a lot of women, Mr. Faraday?"

Faraday grinned. "Usually not until after I've gotten a taste."

_Of what?_ Teddy didn't ask, partially because Faraday was keeping his mouth otherwise occupied. 

As far as kisses went, it was a tad disappointing, either because Faraday wasn't as good at it as he thought he was, or because Faraday was holding back a bit, not putting in the kind of effort he might have put into it had his intentions been more serious and less honorable - inasfar as the word could be applied to the current situation.

"There. That should give you something new to dream about." Faraday grinned. "Mind, unless you turn me into a woman, it might still be a nightmare, but at least it'll be different."

 

If Teddy dreamt that night, he didn't remember it the next morning.

Like Faraday, he was still healing. Unlike Faraday, though, that didn't mean he wasn't expected to help out, do what he might. The dead had all been buried, but it would be a while yet before all signs of the battle would have vanished.

Teddy wasn't sure how he'd feel, hearing the tale told to any newcomers to Rose Creek. They'd be pointed towards the church, the windmill, the graves, but even so, it would only be a story to them.

They might think themselves brave enough to have joined in the battle, to submit themselves to lessons taught by Goodnight Robicheaux, the Angel of Death, but they would never have the real memory of being called out by name, of hearing more was expected of them than from others.

They wouldn't have come home to find Joshua Faraday talking to his horse, from a distance that for any other man would have meant to risk life and limb.

"You want speech with someone who'll actually talk back, I'm right here, Mr. Faraday." Teddy wondered if Faraday was thinking about leaving. It made sense enough, he supposed; there was nothing here to keep a man of Faraday's tastes and qualities.

"When I said 'be bold', I didn't mean 'insult my horse'," said Faraday. "Know what I did to the last person who insulted my horse?"

"Reckon you're about to tell me you shot him dead."

Faraday scowled. "As a matter of fact, I did. Or, well, I didn't actually waste any bullets, on account of Jack being very sensitive about people insulting his intelligence and prone to expressing his hurt feelings in violent ways, if you're getting my drift, but near enough."

"Well, I've got his feed right here. You think that might do for an apology?"

Faraday sighed. His horse flicked its ears. Teddy hadn't been so imprudent as to even consider riding it, but he'd spoken to it on occasion, before Faraday had shown up alive and more or less well.

"You're lucky we're both in a good mood."

 

Teddy cooked. Faraday set the table. There wasn't much to it, but even so. It felt sort of nice, to come home to company.

"You plan on leaving soon, Mr. Faraday? Will you be joining up with Mr. Chisholm and the others again?"

"And do what? Form a band of wandering gunslingers for hire to anyone with gold and a good cause?" Faraday chuckled. "I think you'll find that to be a rare combination."

"There's more to life than gold, Mr. Faraday. Though I reckon you know that well enough."

"Well, there's drink. Women. Guns." Faraday shrugged. "Cards, of course. Dice, in a pinch. One thing I can tell you, I wouldn't want to be caught dead on a farm. Or in a mine, for that matter."

Teddy decided not to reply that most farmers were unlikely to welcome Faraday on their land.

"So that's me. What about you? You want to be a farmer, Teddy? Grow some food, raise some cows and sheep and children, provided you can find yourself a missus willing to take you?"

Teddy shrugged. "Maybe."

"Don't 'maybe' me, Teddy. Come on, it's your life we're talking about here."

"If Mr. Chisholm was to form a group like you said, I figure I might apply for membership," said Teddy. "I mean, I know I'm nowhere near in your league, Mr. Faraday, don't get me wrong, but a man can learn, can't he? Long as he's willing, and there's someone likewise willing to teach."

"Speaking of which," said Faraday. "Lesson two. Attention and compliments. Say something nice."

_You mean well, Mr. Faraday, but often as not, you make one hell of an effort to appear not to._

Faraday snapped his fingers. "And that's your chance, gone. Come on, Teddy. You gotta be able to think on your feet."

"I was waiting for you to show me a playing card," said Teddy.

"Cute, Teddy," Faraday said. "Very cute. You see what I did there? I complimented you. You said something stupid, but instead of calling you on it, I used it to draw attention to something I like about you."

"You get slapped in the face by a lot of men, too, Mr. Faraday?"

Faraday rolled his eyes. "Men don't slap people in the face, Teddy. Men either use their fists or they use their guns. And the nice thing about guns is, you don't need to be strong or sober or even smart to use one. You just need to be quick."

 

Teddy dreamt about shooting at playing cards, until the Jack of Spades turned into Faraday and shot him dead. He felt the bullet go right through his skin, slowly digging its way to his heart and then he woke, sweaty and gasping for breath, alone and strangely disappointed Faraday wasn't there with a lit candle and a casually dismissive comment.

He considered getting up, and then he considered finding Faraday in bed, half-awake and barely dressed. It didn't seem worth the effort, somehow.

Faraday liked gold, women, guns. He would leave, soon enough, and that would be the end of it.

 

"You know, I think Jack really likes you," said Faraday.

They were sharing a bottle of whiskey, which was to say that Faraday was doing most of the drinking. Most of the talking, too. Teddy couldn't say he minded either too much.

"Can't quite say the feeling's mutual, Mr. Faraday. No offense."

Faraday gestured dismissively with the bottle. "It's all right. I won't tell him you said that. My point is, you're an okay sort of guy. You're polite, you're nice-looking."

"Thanks, Mr. Faraday."

"Me, now, I'm not as polite, but I look great. I'm funny, and I'm real good with a gun. So all in all, I'd say I'm a better than okay sort of guy. You feel what I'm getting at here?"

"You're better than me?" Teddy suggested. He wasn't sure that it wasn't true.

"I was going to say, why aren't there any women here?" said Faraday. "You like women, Teddy?"

Teddy shrugged. "Not particularly, Mr. Faraday."

"Oh." Faraday gulped down some more whiskey. "Well, that's that mystery solved, then. You like men, or are you just - you know. Uninterested in general."

"I like men, Mr. Faraday," Teddy said. "Not boys, not women who dress like men, not men who dress like women. Men."

"You might not have noticed, but I happen to be one of those," said Faraday.

"As a matter of fact, I had noticed that, Mr. Faraday."

"Were you planning on ever actually doing anything about it?"

"I hadn't decided yet, Mr. Faraday."

"Well, if you make up your mind, you know where to find me," said Faraday, rising. If the whiskey was affecting him, it didn't show in the way he walked to the room he had claimed for his own.

Teddy's own legs, when he got up to follow, felt considerably weaker.


End file.
